Where are they now? And where are they going? - The home stretch

He turned in his project and made his request on the same day.

His project was part artwork, part essay. I had asked him, along with all the other students in my world history class, to create an artifact that represented something about the society we had been studying. He also had to write an essay explaining what the artifact revealed.

His request was that I write him a letter of recommendation for college. I’m embarrassed to admit that until he made the request, I had forgotten he was a senior. Most of the students in my class were freshmen. He had transferred into our school from another state after his freshman term, and since our state had slightly different graduation requirements, he had to make up a few freshman classes during his senior year. Now, in the midst of that year, he was making sure he had completed everything he needed to earn both a high school degree and college admission. I was happy to write him a recommendation. He was a good student, a hard worker and really nice kid.

Yet there was a feeling in the pit of my stomach that I couldn’t ignore as he walked out of my classroom. There, on my desk, sat his project and the form on which I was to write the recommendation. One represented where he was. The other represented where he wanted to be next year.

The contrast was stark. I had allowed students to make the artifacts out of construction paper and to hand-write their essays. As I looked from the amateur work I had required to the professional form required by the college, I cringed.

What if he submitted a construction paper project to a university professor? What if he hand wrote the first college essay he turned in? I realized, in that moment, that I had thought of him as my student — not as a person preparing for life after my classroom. I should have done more to challenge him and everyone else in my classes. My standards were too low. That would hurt all of them.

I raised the standards for my students’ next project. They needed more encouragement and support to meet the higher expectations, but I discovered that when I asked for better work, their performance improved.

Take a look at what you require of your students, and think about what will be required of them in future years. Consider their current age or grade level and ask yourself what they will need to do in their next environment. Are you preparing them now for what they will be expected to know then?

If not, consider having an open discussion with your students about where they are headed and how you intend to use these last few months to make sure they are ready to be there. And if preparing those students well means raising your standards, then do it, all while offering even more support and encouragement to them.